For the past decade, a global alliance of research centers, academic institutions, and development agencies in both developed and developing countries have committed their time, resources and knowledge to achieving a critical goal–improving the nutritional status of the world’s poor through biofortified rice.
The following organizations and individuals contributed significantly to this study:
Role: Co-principal investigator
Jere Hass is the Nancy Schlegel Meinig Professor of Maternal and Child Nutrition in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University with expertise in the effect of iron deficiency on physical and reproductive performance. He served as a principal investigator and lead author of the study.
Role: Coordinated work of all contributing organizations and individuals on the study. Harvest Plus is led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Colombia-based International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).
Howarth Bouis is director of HarvestPlus, an international, interdisciplinary research program that seeks to reduce micronutrient malnutrition by harnessing the powers of agriculture and nutrition research to breed nutrient dense staple foods. As a senior research fellow at IFPRI, he was part of the first biofortified rice research effort that led to this study. Bouis has successfully galvanized a global network of research centers and implementing agencies in support of biofortification as a new food-based approach for ending hunger and undernutrition in developing countries.
Role: Developed and field-tested biofortified rice in the Philippines.
Glenn Gregorio is a scientist and plant breeder at the International Rice Research Institute. His research was instrumental in the identification and field testing of the high-iron rice variety–technically known as IR68144–used in the study. Glenn is a co-author of the study.
Role: Co-principal investigator
John Beard is a professor of nutrition in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at Pennsylvania State University, with expertise in iron deficiency and early child development. He served as a principle investigator and co-author of the study.
Role: Conducted biofortified rice feeding trial of 192 religious nuns in 10 convents in the Philippines over a nine-month period.
Angelita del Mundo served as professor of human nutrition and foods in the College of Human Ecology at the University of the Philippines-Los Banos until her retirement in 2002. She led the field research team that conducted the feeding trials at the convent, supervised a team of enumerators to ensure the highest levels of scientific rigor, and was a co-author of the study. She passed away in November 2004.